With few things to do around Salinas besides bowling, going downtown, watching movies and other limited activities, 60 Alisal students decided to gather and have fun in a friendly competition – Alisal Assassins. 

Alisal students aren’t the only ones, as other schools around Salinas have taken part in their own competitions.

Stealth, precision, and accuracy are the key skills it takes to win it all. This game is run through a Twitter account which remains anonymous, whose task is to assign players with their set opponents. 

The game is run by rounds, and each week is considered a new round. Players have no set date as to when the whole game is over, but they do have a four day span to eliminate their opponents. The rules include to keep the game outside school and work hours, sending proof of you getting your victim out, keeping it a secret, not using any harmful objects to take victims out, and most importantly, to have fun. 

Once a player has been assigned a target, they have to do their best to track them around Salinas. After a player is shot they must resign their target to whoever they were taken out by and the person who captured the target is granted immunity for one hour limiting the time their opponent has to take them out. The Twitter account is used to keep the players updated on who’s out, who’s immune, and the remainder’s whereabouts for the benefit of their opponents. 

Although all were hoping to attain victory and having the privilege of being the last player standing, most had to deal with being eliminated. Kristina Nieto, who was out in the second round, shared, “My favorite memory from this was driving around with friends finding people and getting to make memories” while taking part in finding her opponents. She also mentioned she would definitely rejoin and encourage others to participate with their own friends as it was “really exciting and it’s something that just helps you just let go and live life.” 

On the other hand, Arih Mendez who was also out in the second round shared that he was “pretty disappointed” in the moment of being removed from the game. His favorite memory was eliminating his opponent who happened to be one of his very close friends. “He didn’t expect it and it was cool because I went undercover,” Mendez said. By the start of round 3 there were only seven players. Diego Puga Escobar said, “My strategies consist of taking advantage of every opportunity that I have and ensuring that I don’t let it get out of reach.” 

As the end was near, round 4 consisted of 3 players. “Making top 3 is honestly nerve wracking because I have to take care of myself and watch out for Diego Puga Escobar,” Geraldine Sierra said. She jokingly mentioned a strategy she planned on using was “luring him with Wingstop”.

Towards the end of the game, it was cut short as the players went a whole week without eliminating each other, leading the game admin to end it. Finalist Brianna Hernandez stated, “It wasn’t expected. I honestly thought there was going to be another round”. In a sense this was a relief for her, “It was fun and crazy even though I was scared to walk home during the last round,” she said. On the other hand, “It kinda sucked that it got cut short because I wanted to be the last one standing,” Sierra said, while Diego Puga Escobar said, “I feel like the winner should have been declared by whoever had the most kills towards the end of the round.” However,  he agreed with it ending this way as it was “being dragged on for too long.” 

As for if they would rejoin, all three finalists mentioned they would not return to the game because of the drainage and anxiousness from not getting caught that comes with it. Overall, all players enjoyed the memories attained from this and saw this game as a nice closure before parting ways.